The commerce of England and the interests of the traders
were placed before everything else, and the Protestant creed of
the strictest nature was rigourously maintained. In maintaining
England's position abroad, Cromwell was successful. As a
social reformer, however, he failed very badly. The world is
made up of a number of people and they rarely think alike.
In the long run, this seems a very wise provision. A government
of and by and for one single part of the entire community
cannot possibly survive. The Puritans had been a great
force for good when they tried to correct the abuse of the
royal power. As the absolute Rulers of England they became
intolerable.
When Cromwell died in 1658, it was an easy matter for the
Stuarts to return to their old kingdom. Indeed, they were
welcomed as ``deliverers'' by the people who had found the
yoke of the meek Puritans quite as hard to bear as that of autocratic
King Charles. Provided the Stuarts were willing to forget
about the Divine Right of their late and lamented father
and were willing to recognise the superiority of Parliament, the
people promised that they would be loyal and faithful subjects.
Two generations tried to make a success of this new arrangement.
But the Stuarts apparently had not learned their
lesson and were unable to drop their bad habits. Charles II,
who came back in the year 1660, was an amiable but worthless
person.
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